See Also: Semite(dictionary)
Semite(encyclopedia)
anti-Semite(dictionary)

Semite (sh)




Person speaking one of a group of related languages, presumably derived from a common language, Semitic (see Semitic languages).

The term came to include Arabs, Akkadians, Canaanites, some Ethiopians, and Aramaean tribes including Hebrews. Semitic tribes migrated from the Arabian Peninsula, beginning งใ 2500 BC, to the Mediterranean coast, Mesopotamia, and the Nile River delta. In Phoenicia, they became seafarers. In Mesopotamia, they blended with the civilization of Sumer. The Hebrews settled at last with other Semites in Palestine.